The Associated PressSyracuse Crunch forward Cory Conacher, left, was an AHL all-star while playing for the Norfolk Admirals last season.

The best player in the American Hockey League last season was just a few strides into the War Memorial on Thursday morning before he got taken down a couple of pegs.

Syracuse Crunch forward Cory Conacher had left his workout shoes somewhere else and instead sported a pair of preppy loafers. Teammates Mike Angelidis and Mark Barberio were in the hallway and pounced on Conacher with barbs like he was a loose puck in the crease.

“We have that kind of chemistry. You don’t get offended by anything,” Conacher said. “I don’t take offense. I try to throw a chirp back. We’re like brothers.”

It was that type of mood in the building on move-in day as players, many of whom made the trip from Calder Cup champ Norfolk to new Tampa Bay affiliate Syracuse this season, unpacked in the locker room. Coach Jon Cooper spied Conacher, the AHL’s MVP last year, and Barberio, the AHL’s defenseman of the year, and went into fake fan mode.

“Is that the Most Valuable Player in the American Hockey League? The most valuable player and the most valuable defenseman?” joked Cooper, himself the coach of the year. “I can hardly contain myself.”

Conacher laughed right along, but he had an edge that helped explain how he went from an undrafted unknown to the league’s MVP and Rookie of the Year last season. With a straight face, Conacher, who posted 41 helpers and a league-leading 39 goals in 2011-12, insisted he’ll need a fast start to maintain his roster spot in an AHL souped-up by the NHL lockout.

“You don’t want to come here thinking you can play and be on the team right away. There’s some guys who have to get cut,” he reasoned. “If I look sloppy out there, it’s easy for them to say start somewhere else and work your way up.”

That twist would be equal parts highly unlikely and very familiar for Conacher.

As a child Conacher was diagnosed with Type I diabetes, a condition that requires him to wear an insulin pump when he isn’t playing. As long as he eats proper meals in a timely fashion and keeps his sugar level balanced, Conacher said the ailment doesn’t slow him down.

His height topped out at 5-foot-8, a stature that left him overlooked in junior hockey and as a college prospect. He played four years at Canisius, producing 53 and 42 points, respectively, his last two seasons.

“Big players always have to play themselves off teams. Small players always have to play themselves on teams,” Cooper said. “Cory Conacher is a fighter. He’s a survivor. As a coach, he’s one of the guys you want on your team instead of playing against you.”

But plenty of bench bosses have apparently passed on that option. Coming out of Canisius in 2010-11 Conacher got quick looks in Rochester and Milwaukee, but didn’t stick. Last year, he splashed down with an AHL deal in Norfolk.

“I think my goal was to reach 40 or 50 points,” Conacher said. “It (his final total) is surprising, a little bit. But at the same time it’s a mental thing. If you set your mind to something, you can achieve that. I’m a competitive guy. I like to win.”

Conacher and his Norfolk teammates gorged themselves on that in 2011-12, dominating the second half of the season and closing out the regular schedule with 28 straight wins. Conacher was the catalyst, a fast, shifty playmaker who kicked a talented roster into overdrive.

“Anybody could get 40 goals on our team. I can’t stress how easy it was to play with the guys on the team,” he said.

After helping his teammates cash in, Tampa Bay did the same for Conacher by awarding him an NHL/AHL contract. That gives him two things that can cut both ways — more job security and greater expectations.

“Did he make a grand entrance? He did,” Cooper said. “The one thing he shouldn’t do is put pressure on himself. He’s just got to be consistent.”

Conacher keeps that thought no more than an arm’s length away. Thursday, a black band he picked up over the summer dangled around his left wrist.

Its two-word message was as direct as his shot: “Be ready.”

“You have to be ready for whatever happens. And be positive about it,” he said. “You can’t just put one good season together and hope you can make and NHL career. That’s what (Tampa Bay GM) Steve Yzerman always asks of us, to develop. I have the jitters already. I’m excited to start up.”